Soil carbon pools of reclaimed minesoils under grass and forest landuses

Abstract

AbstractMinesoils are characterized by low soil organic matter and poor soil physicochemical environment. Mine soil reclamation process has potential to restore soil fertility and sequester carbon (C) over time. Soil organic C (SOC) pool and associated soil properties were determined for reclaimed minesoils under grass and forest landuses of varied establishment year. Three grassland sites of 30, 9, and 1 years after reclamation (G30, G9, and G1) and two forest sites, 11 years after reclamation (RF) and undisturbed stand of 40 years (UF), were selected within four counties (Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, and Coshocton) of southeastern Ohio. Soil bulk density (BD) of reclaimed forest (RF) soil was significantly higher than undisturbed forest (UF) soils within 10–40 cm soil depth profile. Reclamation process increased soil pH from slightly acidic to alkaline and decreased the soil EC in both landuses. Among grassland soils, significant changes in SOC and total soil N contents were observed within 0–10 cm soil depth. SOC contents of G30 (29.7 Mg ha−1) and G9 (29.5 Mg ha−1) were significantly higher than G1 soils (9.11 Mg ha−1). Soil N content was increased from G1 (0.95 Mg ha−1) to G9 (2.00 Mg ha−1) site and then the highest value was found under G30 (3.25 Mg ha−1) site within 0–10 cm soil depth. UF soils had significantly higher SOC and total N content than RF soils at 0–10 and 10–20 cm soil depths. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.